‘Nhleko’s wings must be clipped’
ONE of the police unions wants Police Minister Nathi Nhleko to be stripped of the powers to appoint the head of the crime elite unit, the Hawks.
The South African Police Union (Sapu) president Mpho Kwinika made the comments in the wake of the high court in Pretoria setting aside the appointment of Lieutenant-general Berning Ntlemeza as head of the Hawks.
The embattled Ntlemeza is seeking divine intervention and will today attend a church service at Incredible Happenings Church for a big sermon to be conducted by Pastor Paseka “Mboro” Motsoeneng in Katlehong.
But Sapu’s leadership is adamant that they want him out. The union says a transparent process of appointment should be undertaken in the search for the new boss of the Hawks.
Detailing the desired process, Kwinika said: “We want a similar process undertaken by the Judicial Service Commission when it interviews candidates for the position of judges. The potential candidates are put before the entire country and are grilled in public. We do not see the reason why such a process could not be extended to the appointment of the head of the Hawks.”
He said the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 was making similar proposals. According to Kwinika, public interviews of potential candidates would eliminate any possibility of politicians influencing the appointment.
“The appointment of Ntlemeza was influenced by a few ministers and this was likely that the head may be manipulated by them in his decision to charge various people,” Kwinika said.
Kwinika said the union welcomed the damning judgment of the high court, which found that his appointment on September 10, 2015 “was irrational and therefore set aside”.
“Sapu feels more than vindicated as we publicly stated our opposition to his appointment. Sapu even wrote letters to Minister of Police Nathi Nhleko, stating our opposition to the appointment of a man that was declared by a high court to be untrustworthy.
“Nhleko must take full responsibility for this embarrassing turn of events. It is a well-documented fact that Ntlemeza firstly failed as a deputy provincial commissioner in Limpopo. How can Minister Nhleko reward mediocrity?” Kwinika asked.
He alleged that since Ntlemeza “dismally failed” in visible policing, he had no chance to succeed in an elite division such as the Hawks.
Now, Sapu wants Ntlemeza and Nhleko to be personally held liable for the legal costs.
While Ntlemeza was expected to report for work tomorrow, Sapu said: “General (Ntlemeza) must leave his desk now not tomorrow.
“We call upon Nhleko to speed up the process of advertising the vacant post of the head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation. The Hawks are a vital law enforcement agency that can ill-afford to be leaderless.
“We also want to warn the ruling elite that seems to be failing to perform their executive responsibilities not to undermine the judiciary arm of the state. When a judgment is made, it must be complied with, more especially by the government. Ntlemeza must go,” Kwinika said.
He said the selection of the Hawks head must be regulated and there was a need for an independent body to do that work.
“As of now, those who participated in the previous selection process, ought to recuse themselves,” he said.
Meanwhile, Nhleko’s spokesperson, Sandile Ngidi, has denied that the minister was already hunting for a possible successor to Ntlemeza. Ngidi dismissed insiders’ claims that several people were already identified from various provinces to replace Ntlemeza, saying it was “just malicious rumours”.
“The minister is currently taking legal advice on the matter and understands the seriousness with which he must respond to this matter. And as early as Monday the minister will be able to respond to the nation on how he will take the court order forward.”
Ngidi said a matter of such gravity required “sober and straight thinking”.